Coil for mobile device context-driven switching and wireless charging

ABSTRACT

Apparatus, system and method to provide switchable coils in a computing device, comprising: a plurality of electrically conductive coils to transfer electromagnetic energy; a sensor coupled to a processor, to select a coil from among the plurality of electrically conductive coils; a switch to energize the selected coil; and a switch controller coupled to the switch and to the processor. In some embodiments, the plurality of coils may comprise an inductive charging interface. Some embodiments may further include a communication interface between the processor to the plurality of electrically conductive coils, the plurality of coils comprising an interface for near-field communications (NFC). The antenna coils may be arranged to provide improved NFC coverage when the computing device is in a respective predetermined physical configuration. Sensors may be used to detect the configuration and switch NFC communications to use a preferred antenna coil for the detected configuration.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/385,088, filed on Apr. 16, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/911,244, filed on Feb. 9, 2016, and issued onApr. 16, 2019 as U.S. Pat. No. 10,263,451, which is a National StageEntry of PCT Application Ser. No. PCT/US2013/075594 filed on Dec. 17,2013, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/864,430, filed on Aug. 9, 2013, and the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/864,433, filed on Aug. 9,2013, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments are generally related to inductive energy transfer, e.g., byportable devices for communication or for recharging.

BACKGROUND

Devices within close proximity may wirelessly transfer energy forvarious reasons. For instance, a device may wirelessly charge anotherdevice's battery. Also, two devices may engage in near fieldcommunications (“NFC”).

NFC and wireless charging are emerging technologies that are integratedinto mobile platforms such as tablets, smartphones, notebooks and othersmall computing devices (e.g., Ultrabook™ device—Ultrabook is atrademark of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries). Bothare forms of wireless energy transfer, one for the purpose ofcommunications, and the other for the purpose of charging a rechargeableenergy store such as a battery. Such wireless energy transfer mayinvolve an electromagnetic coupling between proximate coils that may actas antennas. For example, a first device may have a transmitting coiland a second device may have a receiving coil. The coils are made of anelectrically-conductive material. An electrical current flowing throughthe transmitting coil generates a magnetic field. In turn, the magneticfield may induce an electrical current in the receiving coil. Theelectrical current may be modulated, producing a modulated magneticsignal and thus transmitting information.

NFC is an emerging technology and desirable feature that is integratedinto mobile platforms such as small computing devices, (e.g., clamshell,slider and convertible configured systems), tablets, smartphones andhandhelds. They are expected to lead to new touch based communicationusages. These usages can be broadly classified into: a) Device ownertapping two of her own devices together, e.g. to pay on a personalpoint-of-sale (POS) with a handheld or credit card; and b) peer to peer(P2P) tap, where two people each with their own device tap to enablepairing, transfer etc.

As touch screens and/or sensors take increasingly more real estate on amobile device, NFC and/or wireless charging coils have been placed undertouch sensor/touch screens. However due to the blockage of touch sensorand system power constraints, the user experience of reading aNFC-enabled device (e.g., a credit card) through the touch sensor/screenis not sufficiently satisfying. It is especially unsatisfying when cardsor tags of different form factors (i.e., shapes) are presented atvarious orientations to the NFC coil underneath the touch sensor/screen.

The performance and effectiveness of NFC and wireless charging is verysensitive to size, relative location and orientation of the two coilsinvolved. For instance, when a misalignment exists between transmittingand receiving coils, a smaller electrical current is induced in thereceiving coil. As a result, a reduced energy transfer occurs. This mayunfortunately reduce the efficacy of wireless charging and NFCapplications.

Some conventional solutions to improving NFC performance involve addingan external amplifier between the NFC modules and coil to boost thesignal. However, doing so consumes more power and sometimes causesco-existence problems with the touch sensor/screen. Other conventionalsolutions for both NFC and wireless charging involve providingswitchable coils to create larger charging or card reading area.However, switching between multiple coils alone will cause a slowresponse to the user and thus produce an unsatisfying user experience.

Because NFC-enabled devices may be reconfigured during use into avariety of lid modes, a single NFC antenna is unable to provide adequatecoverage for all modes. Therefore, there exists a need to provideimproved NFC performance for an NFC-enabled device that may bereconfigured into more than one physical configuration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1B illustrate exemplary tapping surface placements dependingupon usage.

FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate exemplary tapping surface placements dependingupon physical configuration.

FIG. 3 illustrates a deficiency of one NFC coil servicing a plurality ofphysical configurations.

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate a convertible system with multiple coils for eachof a respective physical configuration.

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary form factors of cards designed forinductive coupling.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic view of a touch screen in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates capacitive changes when a finger touches atouchscreen.

FIG. 8 illustrates operation of a touchscreen in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9A illustrates a block diagram of a touchscreen in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9B illustrates a cross-sectional view of a touchscreen inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a method of operating a touchscreen in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 11A-11B illustrates a block diagram and flow chart ofimplementation of sensor based NFC coil switching.

FIGS. 12A-12B illustrates a block diagram and flow chart ofimplementation of sensor based NFC coil switching.

FIGS. 13A-13B illustrates a block diagram and flow chart ofimplementation of sensor based NFC coil switching in tablet mode.

FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment of a device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Apparatus, system and method to support wireless inductive powercharging using a touch-sensitive screen, pad, or the like are described.Apparatus, system and method to support wireless NFC communication usinga touch-sensitive screen, pad, or the like are described. Otherembodiments are described and claimed.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed toproviding a plurality of NFC coils for an NFC-enabled device, such thata specific NFC coil is selected and utilized depending upon a physicalconfiguration of the NFC-enabled device.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are further directed tousing a profile detection capability of modern capacitive touch sensors(e.g., a touch screen) on a mobile device in order to detect the sizeand shape of a metallic coil inside an NFC-enabled device, or that ofwireless charging enabled devices, when such NFC-enabled devices orwireless charging enabled devices are placed next to the touch sensor.Based on the information detected by the touch sensor, a systemcontroller may then select one of a plurality of transmitter coilsembedded under the touch sensor (for NFC or wireless charging) in orderto provide improved performance.

Touchscreens may be incorporated into a wide range of devices, such as(and without limitation) an ultra-mobile device, a mobile device, afixed device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile computingdevice, a smart phone, a telephone, a digital telephone, a cellulartelephone, user equipment, eBook readers, a handset, a one-way pager, atwo-way pager, a messaging device, a computer, a personal computer (PC),a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a netbookcomputer, a handheld computer, a tablet computer, a server, consumerelectronics, programmable consumer electronics, game devices,television, digital television, set top box, and so forth.

Various embodiments are generally directed to advanced near-fieldwireless communications systems. Some embodiments are particularlydirected to wireless networks implementing one or more Wi-Fi Alliance(WFA) standards. In some embodiments, for example, a wireless networkmay operate according to the WFA Wi-Fi Direct standard, 2010 Release. Invarious embodiments, such a Wi-Fi Direct network may also operate usinginterfaces, protocols, and/or standards developed by the WFA Wi-FiDirect Services (WFDS) Task Group. The embodiments, however, are notlimited to these examples.

With general reference to notations and nomenclature used herein, thedetailed descriptions which follow may be presented in terms of programprocedures executed on a computer or network of computers. Theseprocedural descriptions and representations are used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art.

A procedure is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistentsequence of operations leading to a desired result. These operations arethose requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually,though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical,magnetic or optical signals capable of being stored, transferred,combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It proves convenient attimes, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to thesesignals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers,or the like. It should be noted, however, that all of these and similarterms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities andare merely convenient labels applied to those quantities.

Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms,such as adding or comparing, which are commonly associated with mentaloperations performed by a human operator. No such capability of a humanoperator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of theoperations described herein which form part of one or more embodiments.Rather, the operations are machine operations. Useful machines forperforming operations of various embodiments include general purposedigital computers or similar devices.

Various embodiments also relate to apparatus or systems for performingthese operations. This apparatus may be specially constructed for therequired purpose or it may comprise a general purpose computer asselectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored inthe computer. The procedures presented herein are not inherently relatedto a particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purposemachines may be used with programs written in accordance with theteachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct morespecialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The requiredstructure for a variety of these machines will appear from thedescription given.

NFC usage may be broadly classified into: a) Device Owner tapping two ofher own devices together, e.g. to Pay on a personal POS with a handheldor credit card; and b) Peer to Peer tap, where two people each withtheir own device tap to enable pairing, transfer etc. When viewed from acustomer ease of experience perspective, these two broad categories ofusages require entirely different tapping surfaces. A “self-tap” usage,in which a user typically holds and manipulates an NFC-enabled devicenext to an NFC-enabled reader, ordinarily includes usage of a tappingsurface with visual feedback and ease of access from a display sidefacing the user. A “peer-to-peer tap” usage (hereinafter “P2P”), inwhich a user of a first NFC-enabled device ordinarily positions thefirst device near to a second NFC-enabled device. In the peer-to-peertap usage, a tapping surface may be positioned away from the displayside (e.g., on bottom of the device) in order to favor communication inthat direction, because users engaging in a peer-to-peer tap, andholding their devices in a typical orientation for such usage,ordinarily will be facing each other from opposite directions.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a systemand method to detect, by a system controller coupled to a touchsensor/screen, geometry information related to the size and shape of ametallic coil inside an NFC-enabled device, or that of wireless chargingenabled devices, when such NFC-enabled devices or wireless chargingenabled devices are placed next to the touch sensor/screen. Based on thedetected geometry information, one of a plurality of transmitter coilsembedded under the touch sensor/screen (for NFC or wireless charging),is selected in order to provide improved performance. With the geometryinformation of the receiver coil, the transmitter device can make muchbetter decision on which is the best coil to use to deliver best userexperience (“UX”).

In contrast to simply adding more amplifiers, embodiments will avoid theadditional power the amplifier may consume while provide better and moreuniform NFC coverage.

In contrast to blindly switching in a fixed pattern between multiplecoils behind the touch sensor/screen, embodiments are able to quicklyidentify a coil to use based on the sensor profile detection inputs, andprovide a fast response to a user. Even if a switchable coil method useseither feedback from device under charge or load impedance change todetermine which coil is best, the method does not provide enoughinformation such as multiple devices being charged by one device or sizemismatch between NFC reader coil and tag coil.

Reference is now made to the drawings. In the following description, forpurposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It may be evident,however, that the novel embodiments can be practiced without thesespecific details. In other instances, well known structures and devicesare shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate a descriptionthereof. The intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives consistent with the claimed subject matter.

FIGS. 1A-1B illustrate the difference between self-tap and peer-to-peertap. FIG. 1A illustrates a self-tap usage between a computing device 101(e.g., an NFC-enabled clamshell laptop as illustrated) and a device 103(e.g., an NFC-enabled handheld device as illustrated). Computing device101 and device 103 are ordinarily controlled by a single user. Theself-tap usage is not limited to the illustrated types of devices, andmay include other types of devices. For example, device 103 may includea credit card with an embedded NFC coil. FIG. 1B illustrates apeer-to-peer tap between two computing devices 151, 153 controlled byrespective users as supported by an operating system such as Windows™ 8.In the configuration of FIG. 1B, a single surface antenna placement issufficient.

The differing requirements for self-tap and peer-to-peer tap isreflected in the different placement requirements put forth by creditcard service providers and laptop operating system vendors, both ofwhich have to be met by PC OEMs and NFC module suppliers. While it ispossible to meet either one of the usage requirements above, there areno known scalable solutions to provide with high assurance theindependent placement of two NFC tapping surfaces driven by the samemodule while optimally and selectably supporting both self-tap andpeer-to-peer tap. Present approaches rely on the use of two independentmodules to drive separate NFC coils, one coil on each surface ofinterest. This leads to a doubling of cost for the modules.

Convertible devices that can be operated in different lid modes (e.g.,clamshell, tablet, and/or closed lid) are increasing popular. However,such convertible devices add additional complexity in the location ofthe NFC coil so that it is accessible in all lid modes. FIGS. 2A-2Billustrate usage of NFC with a convertible device in variousconfigurations.

When a single slider/convertible device need to support both self tapand P2P tap, there is a need for dual surface coverage. In convertibleform factor devices, certain screen positions can block primary NFCtapping area, requiring a secondary tapping area to be provided. In thefigure above, a tapping surface is required next to the palm rest or inthe track pad for “clamshell mode” and another tapping surface isrequired on the bottom of the device for use in “tablet mode” when thepalm rest area is blocked.

Specifically, FIG. 2A illustrates transfer via NFC communication betweena conventional laptop 201 in an open position and a device 203 enabledfor NFC and/or wireless charging, such as a smartphone. A tappingsurface 205 of the laptop 201 is unblocked when laptop 201 is in an openposition, but will be blocked when laptop 201 is in a closed position.FIG. 2B illustrate a top surface 251 of device 201 in a tabletconfiguration, device 201 having a first tapping surface 253 that isconveniently accessible to a user of tablet 201. FIG. 2B furtherillustrates a bottom surface 261, and a second tapping surface 263 thatis conveniently accessible to support a separate NFC-enabled device 265that may be operated by a different user.

FIG. 3 illustrates a convertible device 300 in which no single locationof a tapping device provides adequate NFC coverage and/or wirelesscharging. Placing coil 301 on the palm rest or touchpad (configuration(a)) is convenient for all modes unless closed or in tablet mode. Whendevice 300 is configured as a tablet (configuration (b)), then coil 303is more conveniently placed. When device 300 is otherwise closed(configuration (c)) and the display or cover shields the palm rest area,then coil 305 is more conveniently placed. Additionally, for smalltablets it may be important to provide a tapping surface on the backcover in order to support P2P taps between individuals.

Embodiments of the present disclosure address the above shortcomingsthrough the use of context based switching between two or more separatecoils, driven one at a time by a single NFC module. The coils may bereferred to herein as NFC coils, but it will be understood that such NFCcoils may also be able to support wireless charging unless the contextof usage clearly indicates that wireless charging is not supported. TheNFC module is further able to support wireless charging.

Embodiments of the present disclosure address a problem of coilplacement for multi-mode devices by using a context base switch betweenmultiple coils, the coils all being driven by a single NFC module. Forexample, FIGS. 4A-4D illustrates a laptop device having three differentcoils with placements optimized for clam shell, tablet modes, for both“me to me” and “me to you” applications. One of the coils may beselected and “switched to” based on the context of the systemconfiguration and usage. FIG. 4A illustrates coil 401 located under abezel surrounding the display screen. Coil 402 may be located on theback of the laptop device and may be adapted for NFC “me to you” typeapplications. Coil 403 may be located at an accessible location when thelaptop device is open, such as a palm-rest area. In some embodiments,coil 403 may be coupled to the laptop device back cover or the coverbottom of the back cover, but is adapted for all NFC applications. FIGS.4B-4D further illustrate coils 401, 402 and 403 with the multi-modedevice in various position modes. Coils 401-403 may also be referred toherein as antennas 1-3, respectively. In general, such embodimentsposition a plurality of coils on at least two different major surfacesof multi-mode devices. At least some major surfaces of multi-modedevices may contain no coils, one coil, or more than one coil.

FIGS. 2A-2B and 4A-4D illustrate coils coupled to a major surface of aconvertible device, thus providing approximately hemispherical coverage.However, embodiments are not limited to coupling coils to a majorsurface. In some embodiments, coils may be coupled to a minor surfacesuch as an edge or corner, this providing greater than hemisphericalcoverage.

Data used to select a preferred coil for NFC communication and/orwireless charging includes determination of a context for each coil.Context may be determined at least in part by using physical sensors.While a variety of sensors may be used for switching between the two ormore coils, the sensors used by some embodiments may include one or moreof: an accelerometer; a Hall Effect sensor; a pressure sensor; and/or agyroscope. The sensors may be used to determine one or more of: a stateof the lid angle; open/closed sensor; latched/unlatched sensor; deviceorientation; placement of the device on a surface; and so forth. Anoperating system may receive a message when there is a significantchange in one or more of the sensor inputs, sufficient to indicate ameaningful change in physical status or physical state of laptop device,e.g., between a closed lid and clamshell mode or between clamshell andtablet modes. A change in physical state that may not be meaningful maybe a physical change that does not result in a significant change inusage of the coils or the convertible device, e.g., a slight change inlid angle for the purpose of lessening reflection glare.

FIG. 5 illustrates various form factors (i.e., sizes and shapes) ofavailable NFC tags/cards or devices capable of wireless charging. Acredit-card size device may be about 2″×3″, and a smartphone size devicemay be about 4″×6″. Even for cards having the same form factor, a coilembedded in the card may be different (e.g., different location, shape,number of turns, thickness, etc.). These variations causes significantlychallenge to NFC reader integration into mobile devices and/or smallcomputing devices such as notebooks, smartphones, and tablets. On onehand, there is no one geometry of reader coil that provide an optimummagnetic coupling with all different sizes and shapes of receiver coilin cards/tags, especially when taking into account the differentorientation and location that the tags could be presented to theembedded reader. A single large reader coil that covers substantiallythe entire screen would have drawbacks that include poor coupling to asmall receiver coil if the receiver coil is placed near the center ofthe reader coil. Another drawback is that coils couple more efficientlyto other coils of similar size, and receiver coils are limited to thesize of the card or tag. On the other hand, a system power limit for amobile device does not usually allow an additional amplifier to be addedto boost the signal. Multiple reader coils may be used to couple withcards with different geometry, however it is difficult to determinewhich one of the multitude of reader coils should be selected.

FIG. 6 illustrates at a high level of abstraction a schematic view of adevice 600 capable of NFC communications and/or wireless charging.Device 600 may include a processor 603 coupled to a memory 605. CPU 603is further coupled to an interface circuit 607, which interfaces withcoil 601. Additional coils (not shown) also interface with CPU 603. Forexample, device 600 may be incorporated into a touch-sensitive screendisplay, touch pad, or the like. Such designs, with coils under atouch-sensitive area, may allow devices to use a profile sensingcapability of a touch sensor, to which the coil is coupled, to providemore useful information regarding the tag/card that the system is tryingto read, in order to improve the NFC reader performance.

FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view of a capacitive touch sensor/screen700 that illustrates a principle of operation of the touch sensor.Embodiments of sensors/screens uses a capacitive touch sensor array todetect mutual capacitance variation introduced by high dielectricconstant material (e.g., a finger) or conductive objects (e.g., a stylusor other metal object) in proximity to the sensor array. The capacitancevariation is interpreted as a “touch” event.

Touch sensor 700 includes a driver terminal 701 and a receiver terminal703. Terminals 701, 703 connect touch sensor 700 to an external circuit(not illustrated). Terminals 701, 703 furthermore areelectromagnetically coupled to each other, as indicated by field linesrunning through the body of screen 700. An equivalent capacitance Cx isformed between terminals 701, 703. In a quiescent state, once Cx ischarged, little or no current flows through terminals 701 or 703.

As shown in FIG. 7B, when a finger 710 comes in between the touchsensor's driver and receiver terminals 701, 703, the presence of finger710 diverts part of the electric field. Finger 710 causes a parasiticcapacitance Cy. The change in the electric field produces a variation inthe mutual capacitance and/or current drawn by terminal 701, which maybe interpreted by touch sensor 700 as a touch event.

Similarly, FIG. 7C illustrates when a conductive object 720 comes closeto the touch sensor array. Object 720 also creates a change in theelectric field in sensor 700 and/or mutual capacitance that can bedetected by the sensor.

FIG. 8 illustrates usage of an embodiment in accordance with thisdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 8A, the touch of a finger 801 is registeredby the touch sensor as a dot 803 in FIG. 8B. In FIG. 8C, when a card 805that is compatible with NFC and/or wireless charging is placed on top ofthe touch sensor, the sensor is able to detect the conductive coiltraces 807 embedded in card 805. It is the coil 807 being detectedrather than the profile or outline of card 805. Based on the responsefrom the touch sensor, the geometry and location of coil 807 may becalculated by a process carried out by a processor or firmware, whichperform instructions stored in a memory.

FIG. 9A illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment 900 that may beimplemented in a laptop device. Embodiment 900 includes a hostcontroller 901 and associated circuit board 903. Circuit board 903includes support circuitry (e.g., circuit drivers, power distribution,memory, etc.) not illustrated but which will be known to persons ofskill in the art. Circuit board 903 may be coupled via communicationpath 930 with touch panel 905. Touch panel 905 includes a plurality ofcoils, illustrated as coils 921, 922, 923, 924 and 925. The coils areplaced in a predetermined pattern underneath or within touch panel 905.Some of coils 921, 922, 923, 924 and 925 may overlap in the plane ofFIG. 9A, but will be separated along an axis perpendicular to the planeof FIG. 9A. Coils 921, 922, 923, 924 and 925 may be configured asreceiving coils if reading information from an NFC-compatible card, ormay be configured as transmitting coils if writing information to anNFC-compatible card or if being used for wireless charging.

If embodiment 900 is configured for NFC, then circuit board 903 and/orhost controller 901 may be configured to transmit and receivecommunication signals, via communication path 930, for or from the NFCchannel.

Circuit board 903 may be further coupled, via communication path 932,with NFC module 909. Path 932 supplies command signals and powerenergizing and detecting signals. NFC module 909 is communicativelycoupled to a switch 907, and uses the command signals received from path932 to control switch 907. Switch 907 selects one of the plurality ofcoils (e.g., one of coils 921, 922, 923, 924 and 925), allowing powerenergizing and detecting signals to be delivered to or read from theselected coil and associated circuitry.

FIG. 9B illustrates a cross-sectional view 950 of a portion of a laptopdevice incorporating an embodiments in accordance with the presentdisclosure. Cross-sectional view 950 illustrates touch screen 911, aplurality of NFC coils 913, and a battery 915 that powers the laptopdevice including touch screen 911 and NFC coils 913.

Knowledge of coil geometry and location may be used to determine a bestavailable coil geometry, and switch to the best available coilunderneath the touch screen 911, e.g., one of coils 921, 922, 923, 924and 925. Determination of the best available coil geometry may includerelationships such as measuring signal strengths, calculating ratios,comparison of responses from the plurality of coils, recognizingpatterns from among such data, and so forth. Calibrations andpre-calculations involving such relationships may be performed on aone-time basis during device design to formulate a set of relationships(e.g., tabular or algorithmic) stored in system memory, which can beused to select a coil to energize based upon the status or values of themeasured relationships. Calibrations and pre-calculations may proceedby, e.g., successively switching between each transmit coil (e.g.,reader coil) for a predetermined NFC tag (e.g., receiver coil) placed ata preselected set of locations on touch screen 911.

During an NFC transaction, if the touch sensor detects an NFC coil froma card during its normal scanning routine (e.g., card 805 and coil 807),coils 921, 922, 923, 924 and 925 provide sufficient information (e.g.,geometry and location information) to the host 901 to enable patternrecognition processing. Processing by the host 901 may include selectingwhich coil of the plurality of coils would provide the best magneticcoupling performance with the detected coil 807 in card 805 (e.g., byaccessing a lookup table stored in memory), and commanding switch 907 toconnect NFC module 909 with the selected reader coil to complete the NFCtransaction.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flow chart in accordance with the presentdisclosure. At block 1001, NFC card detection is initiated. Next, atblock 1003, a decision is made wither the touch sensor has detected apresence of a coil, e.g., a coil within a card or tag. If the outcome ofblock 1003 is negative, the process flow reverts to block 1001. If theoutcome of block 1003 is positive, the process flow continues to block1005.

At block 1005, information related to the tag and/or coil geometry andlocation information is sent to host 901 in order to determine the bestreader coil to use, e.g., which of coils 921, 922, 923, 924 and 925 toread from.

Finally, at block 1007, a command is issued to switch 903 in the NFCmodule in order to switch to the coil selected at block 1005.

Although FIG. 10 illustrates a process related to NFC communication, asimilar process may be used for wireless charging, in which touch sensorinputs can be used to determine a best transmit coil selection, anddynamically switching the transmit coil to achieve improved powertransfer efficiency.

FIG. 11A illustrates a system block diagram of an embodiment 1100 usingsensor inputs to determine which coil to use in small computing devices(e.g., as shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, between clam shell and tabletmodes). Embodiment 1100 includes a circuit board 1101 (e.g., amotherboard) that includes a host processor 1103 that interfaces withsensors such as a hall effect sensor 1105, accelerometer 1107 and othersensors 1109 that may provide information about the usage, physicalstate or orientation of a device that incorporates embodiment 1100.Embodiment 1100 further includes a first coil 1117 and another coil1119, including respective associated interface circuitry.

Circuit board 1101 is communicatively coupled via communication path1132, with NFC module 1111. Path 1132 supplies command signals and powerenergizing and detecting signals. NFC module 1111 may include an NFCprocessor 1113 that is communicatively coupled to a switch 1115, and mayuse the command signals received from path 1132 to control switch 1115.Switch 1115 selects one of the plurality of coils and its interfacecircuitry (e.g., one of coils 1117 and 1119), allowing power energizingand detecting signals to be delivered to or read from the selected coiland associated circuitry. Switch 1115 may be further communicativelycoupled to host processor 1103 via communication path 1133. Coils 1117and 1119 may be selectively switched to support “me to me” usage (e.g.,coil 401 and coil 403).

Communication path 1132 and/or 1133 may be used so that various inputdata from sensors 1105, 1107, 1109 may be processed by host processor1103, and only the information pertaining to the state or change instate of NFC module 1111 is sent to NFC module 1111. An advantage isthat future changes or updates to switching logic may be implementedwithout modifications to NFC module 1111. For example, if a particularswitching feature becomes very successful, then future versions of NFCmodule 1111 maybe able to directly process the data from sensors 1105,1107, 1109. Furthermore, embodiments are expandable via use of othersensors 1109 since NFC module 1111 is not aware of specific sensors anddoes not need to support all of them directly.

FIG. 11B illustrates a flow chart of process 1150 to select a coil, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. At block 1151,for a system in clam shell mode, the NFC initially may be connected tocoil 1119.

Next, at block 1153, a decision is made whether sensor inputs indicateconversion to a different physical configuration, e.g., to tablet mode.If the result of block 1153 is negative, then control returns to block1151. If the result of block 1153 is affirmative, then control passes toblock 1155.

At block 1155, the host issues a command to switch the NFC module outputto coil 1117. Control then passes to block 1157.

At block 1157, a decision is made whether sensor inputs indicateconversion to a different physical configuration, e.g., to clam shellmode. If the result of block 1157 is negative, then control returns toblock 1157. If the result of block 1157 is affirmative, then controlpasses to block 1159.

Finally, at block 1159, the host issues a command to switch the NFCmodule to coil 1119. Control of the process then reverts to block 1153.

Embodiments may use additional sensors or triggers, either individuallyor together with the sensors described to this point. For example,embodiments may use a change in the received signal level at the NFCreceiver to infer a physical change of the laptop device that may causea different coil to be a preferred coil. NFC communications have aproperty such that the receiver is always on, even while the transmitteris operational. This provides a natural way to measure large changes ina received signal level when the lid mode changes. Signal level changesmay be caused by drastic change in the matching between pairs of NFCcoils, and hence power transfer efficiency between the NFC coil and anNFC controller. Refer to FIGS. 12A-12B.

FIG. 12A shows a system diagram of embodiment 1200 to sense environmentchange, for the purpose of determining which coil to use in aconvertible small computing system (e.g., between clam shell and tabletmodes of FIG. 4 ). Embodiment 1200 includes a host controller 1207,which may be mounted on a circuit board 1201 (e.g., a motherboard).Circuit board 1201 includes support circuitry (e.g., circuit drivers,power distribution, memory, etc.) not illustrated but which will beknown to persons of skill in the art. Circuit board 1201 iscommunicatively coupled to NFC module 1211 via communication path 1232.Path 1232 supplies command signals and power energizing and detectingsignals. NFC module 1211 may include a controller (such as NFCcontroller 1213) and switch 1215. NFC module 1211 controls switch 1215in order to selectively connect host controller 1207 with either coil1217 or coil 1219. Path 1221 communicatively couples NFC controller 1213with host controller 1207. NFC module 1211 may be switched between coil1217 and coil 1219 upon detection of which coil would provide the bestcoverage depending upon the current usage.

FIG. 12B illustrates a flow chart of embodiment of a process 1250 tosense environment change in order to determine which coil to use in aconvertible small computing system (e.g., between clam shell and tabletmodes as shown in FIG. 4 ). Process 1250 begins at block 1251 at which aconvertible system initially may be in clam shell mode and NFC module1211 may be connected to coil 1219.

Process 1250 may then transition to decision block 1253, at which NFCmodule 1211 senses whether there exists a characteristic orenvironmental change related to coil 1219. Some embodiments may involvewhether coil 1219 has worsened in relation to coil 1217, e.g., whetherperformance using coil 1219 has deteriorated to be worse thanperformance using coil 1217, and/or whether performance using coil 1217has improved to be better than performance using coil 1219. If no suchcharacteristic or environmental change is sensed, then process 1250 mayrevert to block 1251. If a characteristic or environmental change issensed, then control of process 1250 may proceed to block 1255.

At block 1255, if the response to decision block 1253 is affirmative,then host controller 1207 may issue a command to switch the output ofNFC module 1211 to coil 1217. Control of process 1250 then transitionsto decision block 1257.

At decision block 1257, NFC module 1211 senses whether there exists acharacteristic or environmental change related to coil 1217. Someembodiments may involve whether coil 1217 has worsened in relation tocoil 1219, e.g., whether performance using coil 1217 has deteriorated tobe worse than performance using coil 1219, and/or whether performanceusing coil 1219 has improved to be better than performance using coil1217. If no such characteristic or environmental change is sensed, thenprocess 1250 may revert to block 1257. If a characteristic orenvironmental change is sensed, then control of process 1250 may proceedto block 1259.

At block 1259, if the response to decision block 1257 is affirmative,then host controller 1207 may issue a command to switch the output ofNFC module 1211 to coil 1219. Control of process 1250 may then revert todecision block 1253.

Embodiments may additionally use as triggers, either individually ortogether with other triggers described herein, the nature or purpose ofan application accessing the NFC module. In some embodiments, the usage(as indicated by usage of an application program that is actively tryingto control the NFC radio) determines the choice of coil to be used. Forexample, in a clamshell device when a payment application is active, apreferred coil to energize may be a coil mounted on or near the palmrest or touchpad. In contrast, if the active application were a P2Papplication, then a coil on the back of the display may be a preferredcoil to energize. Activating a predetermined coil responsively to usageof an application program may be accomplished by a command from theapplication program or an operating system service that the applicationprogram uses. Alternatively, an operating system process (e.g., abackground process) may monitor usage of the computing device byapplication programs, and activate a predetermined coil when apredetermined usage is detected. Refer to FIGS. 13A-13B.

FIG. 13A shows a system diagram of embodiment 1300 that is responsive toa nature or purpose of an application accessing the NFC module.Embodiment 1300 includes a host controller 1307, which may be mounted ona circuit board 1301 (e.g., a motherboard). Circuit board 1301 includessupport circuitry (e.g., circuit drivers, power distribution, memory,etc.) not illustrated but which will be known to persons of skill in theart. Circuit board 1301 is communicatively coupled to NFC module 1311via communication path 1332. Path 1332 supplies command signals andpower energizing and detecting signals. NFC module 1311 may include acontroller (such as NFC controller 1313) and switch 1315. NFC module1311 controls switch 1315 in order to selectively connect hostcontroller 1307 with either coil 1317 or coil 1319. Path 1321communicatively couples NFC controller 1313 with host controller 1307.NFC module 1311 may be switched between coil 1317 and coil 1319 upondetection of the nature or purpose of an application accessing the NFCmodule.

Embodiment 1300 may include a software or firmware payment module 1321to switch the output of NFC module 1311 between coil 1317 (e.g., tabletmode as shown in FIG. 4 ) and coil 1319 (e.g., open mode as shown inFIG. 4 ). NFC module 1311 may switch between coil 1317 and coil 1319upon a system trigger to activate “tap-and-pay” mode to best support thecurrent usage of the convertible computing device.

FIG. 13B illustrates a flow chart of one possible implementation using apayment software application module to configure a system to switch theoutput of NFC module 1311 between coils in tablet mode and open mode (asshown in FIG. 4 ). Process 1350 begins at block 1351 at which aconvertible system initially may be in tablet mode and NFC module 1311may be connected to coil 1319.

Process 1350 may then transition to decision block 1353, at which aquery or notification is made whether an e-commerce transaction needs tobe conducted using the NFC interface. If no made known, then process1350 may revert to block 1351. If a need for an e-commerce transactionthrough the NFC interface is sensed, then control of process 1350 mayproceed to block 1355.

At block 1355, if the response to decision block 1353 is affirmative,then host controller 1307 may issue a command to switch the output ofNFC module 1311 to coil 1317. Control of process 1350 then transitionsto decision block 1357.

At decision block 1357, a query may be made whether the e-commercetransaction using the NFC communication link has completed. If thee-commerce transaction has not yet completed, control of process 1350transitions to block 1361. If the e-commerce transaction has completed,then control of process 1350 transitions to block 1359.

A block 1359, host controller 1307 may issue a command to NFC module1311 in order to change switch 1315 to connect to coil 1319 rather thanto coil 1317. At the completion of block 1359, control of process 1350reverts to decision block 1353.

At block 1361, a decision is made whether a time-out has occurred whilewaiting for the e-commerce transaction of block 1357 to finish. If theoutcome of decision block is negative, then control of process 1350reverts to block 1357. If the outcome of decision block is positive,then control of process 1350 transitions to block 1359.

FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment of a device 1400 for use in a wirelesscommunications system, such as an NFC system. Device 1400 may besuitable to implement various embodiments as described in FIGS. 1-13 .Device 1400 may be implemented, for example, in mobile platforms such astablets and smartphones. The logic circuit 1430 may include physicalcircuits to perform operations described for an NFC-enabled mobileplatform. As shown in FIG. 14 , device 1400 may include a radiointerface 1410, baseband circuitry 1420, and computing platform 1430,although embodiments are not limited to this configuration.

The device 1400 may implement some or all of the structure and/oroperations for an NFC-enabled mobile platform, the storage medium 1444,1454 and/or logic circuit 1442 in a single computing entity, such asentirely within a single device. Alternatively, the device 1400 maydistribute portions of the structure and/or operations for anNFC-enabled mobile platform, the storage medium 1444, 1454 and/or logiccircuit 1442 across multiple computing entities using a distributedsystem architecture, such as a client-server architecture, a 3-tierarchitecture, an N-tier architecture, a tightly-coupled or clusteredarchitecture, a peer-to-peer architecture, a master-slave architecture,a shared database architecture, and other types of distributed systems.The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In one embodiment, radio interface 1410 may include a component orcombination of components adapted for transmitting and/or receiving NFCsignals, single carrier or multi-carrier modulated signals (e.g.,including complementary code keying (CCK) and/or orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing (OFDM) symbols) although the embodiments are notlimited to any specific over-the-air interface or modulation scheme.Radio interface 1410 may include, for example, a receiver 1412, atransmitter 1416 and/or a frequency synthesizer 1414. Radio interface1410 may include bias controls, a crystal oscillator and/or one or moreantennas 1418-p. In another embodiment, radio interface 1410 may useexternal voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), surface acoustic wavefilters, intermediate frequency (IF) filters and/or RF filters, asdesired. Due to the variety of potential RF interface designs anexpansive description thereof is omitted.

Baseband circuitry 1420 may communicate with radio interface 1410 toprocess receive and/or transmit signals and may include, for example, ananalog-to-digital converter 1422 for down converting received signals, adigital-to-analog converter 1424 for up converting signals fortransmission. Further, baseband circuitry 1420 may include a baseband orphysical layer (PHY) processing circuit 1456 for PHY link layerprocessing of respective receive/transmit signals. Baseband circuitry1420 may include, for example, a processing circuit 1428 for mediumaccess control (MAC)/data link layer processing. Baseband circuitry 1420may include a memory controller 1432 for communicating with processingcircuit 1428 and/or a computing platform 1430, for example, via one ormore interfaces 1434.

In some embodiments, PHY processing circuit 1426 may include a frameconstruction and/or detection module, in combination with additionalcircuitry such as a buffer memory, to construct and/or deconstructcommunication frames. Alternatively or in addition, MAC processingcircuit 1428 may share processing for certain of these functions orperform these processes independent of PHY processing circuit 1426. Insome embodiments, MAC and PHY processing may be integrated into a singlecircuit.

The computing platform 1430 may provide computing functionality for thedevice 1400. As shown, the computing platform 1430 may include aprocessing component 1440. In addition to, or alternatively of, thebaseband circuitry 1420, the device 1400 may execute processingoperations or logic for a UE, a base station, the storage medium 1444and/or logic circuit 1442 using the processing component 1430. Theprocessing component 1430 (and/or PHY 1426 and/or MAC 1428) may comprisevarious hardware elements, software elements, or a combination of both.Examples of hardware elements may include devices, logic devices,components, processors, microprocessors, circuits, processor circuits,circuit elements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors,and so forth), integrated circuits, application specific integratedcircuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signalprocessors (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), memory units,logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chipsets, and so forth. Examples of software elements may include softwarecomponents, programs, applications, computer programs, applicationprograms, system programs, software development programs, machineprograms, operating system software, middleware, firmware, softwaremodules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, softwareinterfaces, application program interfaces (API), instruction sets,computing code, computer code, code segments, computer code segments,words, values, symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whetheran embodiment is implemented using hardware elements and/or softwareelements may vary in accordance with any number of factors, such asdesired computational rate, power levels, heat tolerances, processingcycle budget, input data rates, output data rates, memory resources,data bus speeds and other design or performance constraints, as desiredfor a given implementation.

The computing platform 1430 may further include other platformcomponents 1450. Other platform components 1450 include common computingelements, such as one or more processors, multi-core processors,co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals,interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards,multimedia input/output (I/O) components (e.g., digital displays), powersupplies, and so forth. Examples of memory units may include withoutlimitation various types of computer readable and machine readablestorage media in the form of one or more higher speed memory units, suchas read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM(DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), staticRAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymermemory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase changeor ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)memory, magnetic or optical cards, an array of devices such as RedundantArray of Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state memory devices(e.g., USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any other type ofstorage media suitable for storing information.

Device 1400 may be, for example, an ultra-mobile device, a mobiledevice, a fixed device, a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile computing device, a smart phone, atelephone, a digital telephone, a cellular telephone, user equipment,eBook readers, a handset, a one-way pager, a two-way pager, a messagingdevice, a computer, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, alaptop computer, a notebook computer, a netbook computer, a handheldcomputer, a tablet computer, a server, a server array or server farm, aweb server, a network server, an Internet server, a work station, amini-computer, a main frame computer, a supercomputer, a networkappliance, a web appliance, a distributed computing system,multiprocessor systems, processor-based systems, consumer electronics,programmable consumer electronics, game devices, television, digitaltelevision, set top box, wireless access point, base station, node B,evolved node B (eNB), subscriber station, mobile subscriber center,radio network controller, router, hub, gateway, bridge, switch, machine,or combination thereof. Accordingly, functions and/or specificconfigurations of device 1400 described herein, may be included oromitted in various embodiments of device 1400, as suitably desired. Insome embodiments, device 1400 may be configured to be compatible withprotocols and frequencies associated one or more of the 3GPP LTESpecifications and/or IEEE 702.16 Standards for WMANs, and/or otherbroadband wireless networks, cited herein, although the embodiments arenot limited in this respect.

Embodiments of device 1400 may be implemented using single input singleoutput (SISO) architectures. However, certain implementations mayinclude multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 1418-p) for transmissionand/or reception using adaptive antenna techniques for beamforming orspatial division multiple access (SDMA) and/or using MIMO communicationtechniques.

The components and features of device 1400 may be implemented using anycombination of discrete circuitry, application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), logic gates and/or single chip architectures. Further,the features of device 1400 may be implemented using microcontrollers,programmable logic arrays and/or microprocessors or any combination ofthe foregoing where suitably appropriate. It is noted that hardware,firmware and/or software elements may be collectively or individuallyreferred to herein as “logic” or “circuit.”

It should be appreciated that the exemplary device 1400 shown in theblock diagram of FIG. 14 may represent one functionally descriptiveexample of many potential implementations. Accordingly, division,omission or inclusion of block functions depicted in the accompanyingfigures does not infer that the hardware components, circuits, softwareand/or elements for implementing these functions would be necessarily bedivided, omitted, or included in embodiments.

One or more aspects of at least one embodiment may be implemented byrepresentative instructions stored on a machine-readable medium whichrepresents various logic within the processor, which when read by amachine causes the machine to fabricate logic to perform the techniquesdescribed herein. Such representations, known as “IP cores” may bestored on a tangible, machine readable medium and supplied to variouscustomers or manufacturing facilities to load into the fabricationmachines that actually make the logic or processor. Some embodiments maybe implemented, for example, using a machine-readable medium or articlewhich may store an instruction or a set of instructions that, ifexecuted by a machine, may cause the machine to perform a method and/oroperations in accordance with the embodiments. Such a machine mayinclude, for example, any suitable processing platform, computingplatform, computing device, processing device, computing system,processing system, computer, processor, or the like, and may beimplemented using any suitable combination of hardware and/or software.The machine-readable medium or article may include, for example, anysuitable type of memory unit, memory device, memory article, memorymedium, storage device, storage article, storage medium and/or storageunit, for example, memory, removable or non-removable media, erasable ornon-erasable media, writeable or re-writeable media, digital or analogmedia, hard disk, floppy disk, Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM),Compact Disk Recordable (CD-R), Compact Disk Rewriteable (CD-RW),optical disk, magnetic media, magneto-optical media, removable memorycards or disks, various types of Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), a tape, acassette, or the like. The instructions may include any suitable type ofcode, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executablecode, static code, dynamic code, encrypted code, and the like,implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, object-oriented,visual, compiled and/or interpreted programming language.

The following examples pertain to further embodiments:

An apparatus to provide switchable coils in a computing device maycomprise a plurality of electrically conductive coils to transferelectromagnetic energy, a sensor coupled to a processor, the processorto select a coil from among the plurality of electrically conductivecoils by use of the sensor, a switch to energize the selected coil, anda switch controller coupled to the switch and to the processor tocontrol the switch.

With respect to such an apparatus, the plurality of coils comprising aninductive charging interface.

Such an apparatus may further comprise a communication interface betweenthe processor to the plurality of electrically conductive coils, theplurality of coils comprising an interface for near-field communications(NFC).

With respect to such an apparatus, the plurality of coils arranged undera touch-screen user interface.

With respect to such an apparatus, the plurality of coils arranged alongat least two major surfaces of the computing device.

With respect to such an apparatus, the sensor to sense a physicalconfiguration of the computing device.

With respect to such an apparatus, the sensor to sense an operatingstate of the computing device.

With respect to such an apparatus, the sensor to sense a physicalconfiguration of the computing device that is related to a change inoperating state of the computing device.

With respect to such an apparatus, the sensor to sense a pattern ofresponses from the plurality of electrically conductive coils.

Such an apparatus may further comprise an application program monitor,to activate a predetermined coil upon detection of predeterminedapplication program activity.

A system to provide switchable coils in a computing device may comprisea processor coupled to a memory, a plurality of electrically conductivecoils to transfer electromagnetic energy, a sensor coupled to theprocessor, the processor to select a coil from among the plurality ofelectrically conductive coils by use of the sensor, a switch to energizethe selected coil, and a switch controller coupled to the switch and tothe processor to control the switch.

With respect to such a system, the plurality of coils may comprise aninductive charging interface.

Such a system may further comprise a communication interface between theprocessor to the plurality of electrically conductive coils, theplurality of coils comprising an interface for near-field communications(NFC).

With respect to such a system, the plurality of coils may be arrangedunder a touch-screen user interface.

With respect to such a system, the plurality of coils may be arrangedalong at least two major surfaces of the computing device.

With respect to such a system, the sensor may sense a physicalconfiguration of the computing device.

With respect to such a system, the sensor may sense an operating stateof the computing device.

With respect to such a system, the sensor may sense a physicalconfiguration of the computing device that is related to a change inoperating state of the computing device.

With respect to such a system, the sensor may sense a pattern ofresponses from the plurality of electrically conductive coils.

Such a system may further comprise an application program monitor, toactivate a predetermined coil upon detection of predeterminedapplication program activity.

At least one machine-readable medium may comprise a plurality ofinstructions that, in response to being executed on a computing device,may cause a controller to cause a plurality of electrically conductivecoils to transfer electromagnetic energy, to receive data from a sensorcoupled to the controller, to select a coil from among the plurality ofelectrically conductive coils by use of the data, to control a switch toenergize the selected coil, and to communicate with a switch controllercoupled to the switch and to the processor.

With respect to such a computer-readable storage medium, the pluralityof coils may comprise an inductive charging interface.

Such a computer-readable storage medium may further compriseinstructions that, when executed, cause a controller to communicate on acommunication interface between the processor to the plurality ofelectrically conductive coils, the plurality of coils comprising aninterface for near-field communications (NFC).

With respect to such a computer-readable storage medium, the pluralityof coils arranged under a touch-screen user interface.

With respect to such a computer-readable storage medium, the pluralityof coils arranged along at least two major surfaces of the computingdevice.

With respect to such a computer-readable storage medium, the sensor tosense a physical configuration of the computing device.

With respect to such a computer-readable storage medium, the sensor tosense an operating state of the computing device.

With respect to such a computer-readable storage medium, the sensor tosense a physical configuration of the computing device that is relatedto a change in operating state of the computing device.

With respect to such a computer-readable storage medium, the sensor tosense a pattern of responses from the plurality of electricallyconductive coils.

Such a computer-readable storage medium may further comprise anapplication program monitor, to activate a predetermined coil upondetection of predetermined application program activity.

A method to provide switchable coils in a computing device may compriseproviding a plurality of electrically conductive coils to transferelectromagnetic energy, selecting a coil from among the plurality ofelectrically conductive coils, by use of a sensor coupled to aprocessor, energizing the selected coil by use of a switch, andcontrolling the switch by use of a switch controller coupled to theswitch and to the processor.

With respect to such a method, the plurality of coils may comprise aninductive charging interface.

Such a method may further comprise communicating between the processorand the plurality of electrically conductive coils, the plurality ofcoils comprising an interface for near-field communications (NFC).

With respect to such a method, the plurality of coils may be arrangedunder a touch-screen user interface.

With respect to such a method, the plurality of coils may be arrangedalong at least two major surfaces of the computing device.

With respect to such a method, the sensor sensing a physicalconfiguration of the computing device.

With respect to such a method, the sensor sensing an operating state ofthe computing device.

With respect to such a method, the sensor sensing a physicalconfiguration of the computing device that is related to a change inoperating state of the computing device.

Such a method may further comprise the sensor sensing a pattern ofresponses from the plurality of electrically conductive coils.

Such a method may further comprise activating a predetermined coil upondetection of predetermined application program activity.

An apparatus to provide switchable coils in a computing device maycomprise a means for providing a plurality of electrically conductivecoils to transfer electromagnetic energy, a means for selecting a coilfrom among the plurality of electrically conductive coils, by use of asensor coupled to a processor, a means for energizing the selected coilby use of a switch, and a means for controlling the switch by use of aswitch controller coupled to the switch and to the processor.

With respect to such an apparatus, the plurality of coils may comprisean inductive charging interface.

Such an apparatus may further comprise a means for communicating betweenthe processor and the plurality of electrically conductive coils, theplurality of coils comprising an interface for near-field communications(NFC).

With respect to such an apparatus, the plurality of coils arranged undera touch-screen user interface.

With respect to such an apparatus, the plurality of coils arranged alongat least two major surfaces of the computing device.

With respect to such an apparatus, the sensor sensing a physicalconfiguration of the computing device.

With respect to such an apparatus, the sensor sensing an operating stateof the computing device.

With respect to such an apparatus, the sensor sensing a physicalconfiguration of the computing device that is related to a change inoperating state of the computing device.

With respect to such an apparatus, the sensor sensing a pattern ofresponses from the plurality of electrically conductive coils.

Such an apparatus may further comprise a means for activating apredetermined coil upon detection of predetermined application programactivity.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “one embodiment”or “an embodiment” along with their derivatives. These terms mean that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Theappearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, in the following description and/or claims, the termscoupled and/or connected, along with their derivatives, may be used. Inparticular embodiments, connected may be used to indicate that two ormore elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact with eachother. Coupled may mean that two or more elements are in direct physicaland/or electrical contact. However, coupled may also mean that two ormore elements may not be in direct contact with each other, but yet maystill cooperate and/or interact with each other. For example, “coupled”may mean that two or more elements do not contact each other but areindirectly joined together via another element or intermediate elements.

In addition, the term “and/or” may mean “and,” it may mean “or,” it maymean “exclusive-or,” it may mean “one,” it may mean “some, but not all,”it may mean “neither,” and/or it may mean “both,” although the scope ofclaimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. In the followingdescription and/or claims, the terms “comprise” and “include,” alongwith their derivatives, may be used and are intended as synonyms foreach other.

It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided toallow a reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technicaldisclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not beused to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Inaddition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen thatvarious features are grouped together in a single embodiment for thepurpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is notto be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimedembodiments require more features than are expressly recited in eachclaim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matterlies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thusthe following claims are hereby incorporated into the DetailedDescription, with each claim standing on its own as a separateembodiment. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which”are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms“comprising” and “wherein,” respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,”“second,” “third,” and so forth, are used merely as labels, and are notintended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

What has been described above includes examples of the disclosedarchitecture. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components and/or methodologies, but one ofordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinationsand permutations are possible. Accordingly, the novel architecture isintended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variationsthat fall within the scope of the appended claims.

1. An apparatus, comprising: a sensor; one or more antennas; and acontrol circuitry coupled to the antenna, the control circuitry toreceive command signals from a host controller in response to executionof instructions by the host controller; the control circuitry to controlwireless charging via a first coil of the one or more antennas inresponse to the command signals, the control circuitry to controlwireless energy transfer via the first coil to perform wirelessinductive power charging via a coil of a wireless charging enableddevice based on the command signals from the host controller, thecommand signals based on input from the sensor, and to perform nearfield communications via a second coil of the one or more antennas. 2.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry comprises thehost controller coupled with a circuit board, the host controllercoupled with the sensor to execute the instructions to generate thecommand signals.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising adisplay coupled with the host controller, wherein the display comprisesa touch screen and the touch screen comprises sensors.
 4. The apparatusof claim 3, the control circuitry to activate the antenna as aninductive charging interface based on the command signals from the hostcontroller.
 5. The apparatus of claim 2, the control circuitry toreceive a command signal from the host controller to use one of the oneor more antennas.
 6. The apparatus of claim 2, the sensor to detect thecoil of the wireless charging enabled device proximate to the sensor. 7.The apparatus of claim 1, the one or more antennas to comprise aninductive charging interface and a near field communications interface.8. The apparatus of claim 1, the host controller to associate one ormore of the one or more coils with modes of the apparatus.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises surfaces housingat least the one or more antennas, the control circuitry, and thesensor.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, the control circuitry to comprisea near field communications (NFC) chip.
 11. An apparatus comprising:antennas, wherein the antennas comprise one or more coils; a hostcontroller; and a circuitry coupled with the antennas and the hostprocessor to selectively perform wireless charging and near fieldcommunications in response to command signals, the circuitry to couplewith a near field communications (NFC) chip to perform near fieldcommunications via one of the antennas in response to the commandsignals, the circuitry to couple with the host controller to receive thecommand signals from the host controller in response to execution ofinstructions by the host controller.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11,wherein the apparatus comprises surfaces housing at least the antennas,the host controller, and the circuitry.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11,further comprising a battery, wherein at least one of the one or morecoils comprises an inductive charging interface coupled with thebattery, the inductive charging interface to transfer energy wirelesslyvia electromagnetic coupling with another coil.
 14. The apparatus ofclaim 11, the host controller to associate the coils with modes of theapparatus.
 15. The apparatus of claim 11, the circuitry to receive acommand signal from the host controller to use the coils for wirelesscharging or the near field communications.
 16. The apparatus of claim11, the circuitry comprising a circuit board.
 17. The apparatus of claim11, the NFC chip comprising a processor.
 18. The apparatus of claim 11,further comprising a touch screen coupled with the host controller,wherein the touch screen comprises a sensor.
 19. The apparatus of claim18, wherein at least one or the one or more coils is mounted within ahousing behind the touch screen.
 20. The apparatus of claim 11, thecircuitry to pass a detection signal indicative of a coil or a magneticfield.